Blue Birds
by Chiharu-angel
Summary: Silence; that's all he heard. Darkness; that's all he saw. Pain; that's all he felt. Haitus
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N- Well it's a little...okay a lot AU-ish, Sasuke decides not to take Itachi's eyes (because Itachi sealed them off with a seal of his own creation). It's an Ita/Saku fanfic so…on with the show. Also, they will be short chapters like this one, since I feel I can update faster with shorter chapters. So as opposed to a three month wait, it will probably only be a few days or less. **_

_Sound the bugle now - play it just for me_

_As the seasons change - remember how I used to be _

~"Sound the Bugle" by Bryan Adams

CHAPTER 1

**Hours after the Uchiha brothers' battle**

Silence; that's all he heard.

Darkness; that's all he saw.

Pain; that's all he felt.

Gradually, little things became noticeable; little birds and their melodies, the smell of grass with a tinge of something metallic, the sun's rays through his eyelids. Pain reared its sharp head as consciousness flowed back into his mind. Grunting, when all he wanted to do was scream out, he slowly opened his heavy lids. The blare of the sun momentarily blinded him; blinking his eyes several times he refocused, with what blurry vision he had, on his surroundings. There were several splotches of blood all over the concrete ruins in front of him; somehow he had managed to move to the trees away from the initial fight, most likely subconsciously because he didn't remember moving. The grass was covered in his blood from where he dragged himself to where he was sitting.

After all that, he still couldn't kill me. Itachi thought resignedly.

His whole body ached and he could hardly breathe since his illness had far exceeded his ability to mask it. His breathing sounded gargled since there was more than likely blood in his lungs, he also felt internal injuries besides his illness, but was too tired to acknowledge where. His external self was littered in gashes and cuts, he could not figure out how it was still possible for him to move. So, instead of using what little strength he had left to summon a bird to get help from the Akatsuki, he just laid there. He lay in this spot, under a beautiful, old Oak, waiting and accepting of his inevitable death. He pondered on whether he would be forgiven for the acts he volunteered to carry out against his clan for the better of the village. He wondered what Shisui would say to him if he saw how he was just giving up to die. He entrusted Naruto with Shisui's eye, hoping that he would never have to use it. His most heartfelt regret though, had to be when he killed a woman he had entertained the notion of marrying. He dared not say her name, nor think it- Itachi deemed himself unworthy of such. Her soft grey eyes neither filled with hate nor vengeance had been the last thing he saw of her before moving on to his clan. He often wondered how she only looked at him with a melancholy expression, as if she knew the burden he would bear for the rest of his life. Yes, this horrible burden would soon leave him as he felt his life slowly slipping away. He looked up at the cerulean sky and watched as the birds flew above. He leisurely closed his eyes and awaited death's cold touch. At the edge of his consciousness, he felt four chakra signatures in the distance closing in on the decimated compound, too weak to move, he just hoped he would be dead by then.

* * *

><p>"Please Lady Tsunade! Allow me to accompany the Anbu on this mission." Sakura begged to her master who sat on the edge of her large desk. Around her was a three man squad of highly trained Anbu-the Rat, the Cat, and the Boar.<p>

"Sakura, you know how I feel about this. Your emotional involvement could compromise this mission." Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, said with a hard expression.

"But Lady Tsunade, I can be of assistance if there are injuries. Naruto does not have to know of this. Please Master, please let me accompany them. I want to be able to help if 'he' is injured, and I want to be the one to do it so I have peace of mind." Sakura beseeched.

"I do not mind if she attends Lady Hokage. She has an excellent record and she will be beneficial to the mission." The Cat, who was the captain of the team, supplied.

"Very well, Sakura you are here by permitted to join Anbu Team 5 on the Scout and Recovery mission." Tsunade relented after a moment of silence.

"Thank you Lady Tsunade. I will not disappoint you." Sakura responded in relief as she relaxed somewhat.

"See that you don't Sakura. You are dismissed, head out right away." Tsunade ordered.

All four team members disappeared and headed towards the villages gate to locate the Uchiha compound.

* * *

><p>When they came upon the clearing a couple hours later, they noted the obvious wreckage. Boulders overturned, destroyed pieces of what was left of the compound scattered about the clearing, blood everywhere. Sakura had never seen so much blood before. Upon one wall, specifically, was a splotch of blood that slid down the wall as if the body itself slid down. The Anbu searched out the area close by as she inspected the blood surrounding the area. Looking down at a large stain of blood in front of her, she followed the trail a little farther into the woods, just barely out of sight of the field. What she came upon nearly shocked her to death. There, amidst the shadows provided by the overhead crop of trees, was the body of a man.<p>

**(t.b.c.)**

A/n- What do you think? Sound good so far? I really need a beta for this story, any takers? I need someone strong in character development, someone who knows Naruto-verse inside and out (for the most part) and the typical grammar and spelling. I know my grammar sucks. :) Give me a message!

Thanks you guys.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N- Wow, so much for a few days. That's my fault I guess, sort of- had to study for Finals in college. However, I'm finished with college for a whole month! So I'm going to try to update my stories like a crazy person!**_

Now I can't go on, I can't even start

I've got nothing left, just an empty heart.

"Sound the Bugle"-Bryan Adams

**Last Chapter-**

Looking down at a large stain of blood in front of her, she followed the trail a little farther into the woods, just barely out of sight of the field. What she came upon nearly shocked her to death. There, amidst the shadows provided by the overhead crop of trees, was the body of a man.

**Chapter Two**

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. There, under the shadows of an Oak, was Itachi Uchiha. He was covered in cuts and bruises, blood seemed to be coming out of his mouth and eyes. Approaching cautiously, Sakura knelt down with one hand in her kunai pouch and the other reaching for his neck to check for a pulse. She pushed his long, black hair aside and put two fingers to his neck, but nearly jumped out of her skin when he hacked up some blood. Immediately the medic in Sakura took over, pulling her hand from her pouch with a kunai, she sliced open what was left of his torn shirt and mesh. She filled her hand with medical chakra and placed them on his chest over his lungs. Pulling back in surprise, she called out to the other members of her team.

"He's has internal bleeding, several fractured ribs, superficial cuts, some stab wounds, his eyes seemed to be suffering from overuse, and I've just discovered he has some type of illness in his lungs-looks to be years old." Sakura read off the mental list in her mind as she healed some of the worst of the cuts and bruises on his body.

"How close to death is he?" The Cat asked.

"I would say he has hours or so till his body completely gives out from stress. However, if you give me about an hour, I'll be able to give him more time so we can reach the Village for further treatment." Sakura said as she stood up.

"Very well, continue healing him, we'll keep searching for more signs of the younger brother." He said as he signaled to the others to continue searching.

Sakura turned her complete concentration over to the broken man at her feet. She carefully removed him from the tree and laid him out on his back. Pushing chakra into her palms, she did a more thorough search of his body and found he had an advanced form of Pulmonary Aspergillosis. How he could even become a ninja, let alone a Captain of Anbu, was beyond her thinking. He must have had a very strong will to survive. Sakura could detect no other signs of illness that would cause the Aspergillosis, however she mentally noted he had a weak immune system which was more than likely the cause. Treating this disease would consume a lot of energy and multiple trials to heal and correct, so she put a minimal amount of chakra into treating the worst of it. Feeling a little drained from treating his lungs, she scanned the rest of his body and patched up some of the fractured ribs and deeper stabs wounds.

The process took about two and a half hours, leaving Sakura a little more drained than she would have liked. The Anbu Captain returned to her along with the other team members, The Cat secured chakra infused ropes around Itachi's wrists and lifted him onto his shoulder carefully despite the ninja's rogue status.

"Do you need any soldier pills Haruno, or are you in well enough condition to make it to the village?" The Rat asked as he walked up to her.

"No I am fine." Sakura said as she wiped some of the blood off of her hands with a wet nap she happened to have in her pouch she had saved when she went out to eat barbequed pork with Ino the other night.

He could feel that he was moving, but just couldn't seem to focus on one thing for too long without some twinge of pain afflicting some part of his body. On some level he hoped the people who were transporting him were Hunter Ninjas after his head, but he tossed that thought away rather quickly since he knew he would have been headless by now. He actually felt strangely better than he did when he was waiting for Death under the tree.

_They must have a Medic Ninja on their team. _Itachi thought as he let the blackness take him yet again.

"Take him to one of the secure hospital rooms; I'll have Anbu stationed around every exit. I want every precaution possible, get me Ibiki Morino! He can make me a chakra inhibitor for the Uchiha while he's still out, for now keeps on the restraints till that's finished. Is that hospital room ready?" Lady Tsunade barked out as her, Sakura and The Cat (who was still carrying Itachi) walked through an underground prisoner transport hallway. They were surrounded by several Anbu and several clan heads including: The Yamanaka for interrogation, the Nara for extra restraint and the Hyuuga to monitor vitals and chakra flow more accurately.

"Sakura I need you to rest until I'm finished with Itachi, we need him alive to extract as much information as possible about the Akatsuki out of him. We will rotate our efforts on healing his lungs and internal injuries. I want all the life threatening injuries healed first, we will worry about his eyes later." Tsunade instructed as she pushed open the doors to the secure part of the hospital underground.

There were nurses waiting with a gurney, The Cat laid him down on it and Tsunade left in a hurry with them into a surgical room down the hall.

"Haruno Senpai, you can take this room to rest in, would you like anything to eat or drink?" asked a timid looking nurse dressed in white.

"Yes, water please and that will be all-thank you." Sakura said wearily. A few minutes later Sakura's head hit the pillow of a bed in a white room. She let oblivion take her.


End file.
